Catch-Up #1 JaXoN is FiVe!!!

Yeah, back on SEPT 8 my little baby Jax turned five. I can write "my little baby" on here since he can't read...he has officially banned me from calling him that:)! It was a little bit of a crazy time for us since my sis was getting married and it was a pre-wedding rush of to-do projects, but I wanted to make sure Jaxon had a special day. He wanted a Sponge Bob birthday, complete with the pinata and all. He got it! Thanks family for helping us to make his day so special~!

Jax getting ready to smack the pinata. My camera died right after this picture so I don't have one of any other kids and the pinata:).

Jax also had an "under the sea" treasure hunt! Ryan made sure all the kids had their pirate hooks ready to begin. Then he gave the kids hints and had them running all over the park. The booty was next to the pepsi machine, and eventually they found it. They each got a Sponge Bob party bag full of prizes, and then Ryan distributed the gold pieces. Jax got about a billion presents for his birthday, and loved our little family party. I told him before that he could have a friend party, but there just wasn't time for it. Instead, he got a family party with games he would have played at a friend party. It worked:). Pictures of cake and presents to come:). That's all my time for now (after bedtime and baby screaming in the background)!

Then and Now

I remember being a teenager and looking at people my age now and thinking they were so OLD. I never thought I would reach the ripe old age of 28, let alone 29. Then came college, and my plans for my future evolved. I made career-oriented goals. I was going to become a lawyer, and maybe move back East somewhere. I stuck to this goal pretty much through college, only changing my mind at the end when I met Ryan.

Once I met Ryan, my plans changed again. I loved being a couple, loved being married. We constantly went on newly wed dates. There was a time when we had seen every movie worth seeing at the theater (this sounds corny but it amazes me now since we're lucky if we see a movie every few months). A few years after getting married my plans expanded and I wanted to be a mom, to have a family. I started out thinking only one or two kids, and Ryan's plans were three or four (he won obviously:)). I could only see the fun part of having kids, where you got to dress them and play with them. I didn't really believe people when they talked about how hard kids were, the lack of sleep, etc. Wow, was I in for a surprise:)!

Now, I am a mom of three boys, and a wife to an amazing person. I am busy constantly with building our house, and just the everyday stuff being a stay-at-home-mom entails. Back in the day I never knew how hard life could be, but also how great life would be. With trials come rewards. This is especially true with my kids. They are the hardest thing in my life, but by far the most rewarding.

I love this season in my life, even if it is so different from where I saw my future going when I was younger. I'm turning 29 tomorrow, and apparently feeling a little nostalgic by the tone of this post:). Plans change, dreams change, but life just keeps getting better!

Dirty Dash

I have so much blogging to do, but I figure this is a great place to start. September 25 my whole family (9 of us) ran the Dirty Dash. AWESOME! If you love to run, love to get dirty, or love a challenge, this race is for you! 6.2 miles of running through tires, jumping over walls, jumping over hay bales, running through a bogg, getting hit with snow machines, running up muddy hills, trail running, sliding down a huge slide being squirted by fire hoses, and crawling through a giant mud pool...GREAT! We all had so much fun, and will for sure be going back every year! Just don't wear anything you care about, and you'll end up donating your shoes because you'll never be able to get them clean yourself! We SERIOUSLY had an awesome time. Loved gettin' dirty! The second picture is me after my first fall, but still relatively clean from the front. The first picture is just after the finish line. Ry finished with my older brother Jarod, and I finished with my little bro and sis, and my shiny brand new brother-in-law. Good times:)

First Day of School

Jax had his first day of preschool today. He was so excited! He is going to school with our soon-to-be next-door-neighbor (a lot of hyphens:)) Peyton! Here are a few pic's of school, ending with random fun pictures from the garage last night:)!

Love 'Em To Pieces

Can I tell you how much I LOVE these faces?!!! Even though as I'm typing I have one crying because he's tired, one crying because he wants to nurse NOW, and one getting mad at me because HE wants to play on the computer, not me! Being a mom of three is definitely challenging at times, but I feel so blessed that heavenly father gave these boys into my care. I wouldn't trade them for anything!!!
If you can't tell, Krew got a haircut (it's not done in these pic's, but neither is Jax's or Becks'). We cut about an inch and a half off. It was traumatic for me (tears and all). Krew is keeping his darker hair, and his eyes are blue at the edges and brown in the middle. I love that he's a little different-looking than the other two. He is always grinning at me, (except in these pictures apparently).
Well, gotta go now. Beckham and Jax are now trying to punch each others' lights out...(IT NEVER ENDS:))

Our House...again

Over the next several months we'll be posting a ton of pic's of our house. Here's just a few more. The framing, rough electrical, rough plumbing, and rough HVAC are all done. Next week comes insulation and then the next week is drywall. Can't wait!

Also included are pic's that are proof that we have actually been to the park this year:)

This post ends with a little eye candy coming at you from West Valley courtesy of my husband. Sorry if he's your brother, or your boyfriend:), but the pic is just too good to go unposted. Man or woman? I'm betting on man, but you never know...

We're On Our Way!

Here are some pic's of our house as of today. Tomorrow, they're putting on the trusses so it will change again (I'll post pic's again when the framing is done next week). We're finally on our way to having our own house again. Hooray!

We Love You Tim!

Friday night Ryan and I went with some of our friends to Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw at Usana. It was seriously so much fun! I think we annoyed the peeps around us by how hyper we were. We danced and sung the night away! Ry and I kept laughing at the thought of what our kids would think if they saw us...guess we're not that old yet:0). It was also a prime people watching spot...we found some keepers;). Also all of the drunks were entertaining, especially the guy in front of us who couldn't even stand up straight and did some accidental flips through the crowd!

Thanks Katie for the pic's! Ry and I did some "special" dancing! We entertain ourselves at least! In another pic, the boys decided to tag team Tim, since he wasn't so much for the dancing scene. Love Ryan's face!

Lately

Isn't this the cutest smile you've EVER seen?!! I LOVE it! I see it all the time now, usually directed my way:). This is great for me since both of my other kids are Daddy's boys, so I'll take what I can get! Krew is getting so big. Here are some pic's of him today at my parents' house. Here is our newest and craziest piece of news: Krew is teething! Seriously, I had no idea this could happen at two months, but he has a tooth trying to come through. Not looking forward to this since I'm nursing;). Krew constantly coo's and grins, oh yeah, and cries. That's about all he does besides eat and sleep.

Above is a picture of Krew and my mom. She informed us today Krew looks just like her as a baby. I see Ryan's dad Jon. Hmmm...we'll have to see.

Here is a pic of Krew with my mother-in-law Nancy at the 24th parade in Bountiful last night. He loves his grandmas!
My dad got the boys a 4-wheeler, and Jax spent some time test driving it around the yard. Jordyn's going to LOVE me for this picture;)



Below is Beckham while Jax rode the 4-wheeler. He is my chicken:0).

My little brother Jace turned 22 on July 16th. He really wants me to start setting him up with some ladies, so if any of you know of any cute girls let me know!

A pic of Ry and me relaxing at my parent's cabin in the coolest chairs ever!

We also went to Evanston for the 4th of July, since Riverdale's celebration was on the 3rd. It was awesome! I couldn't believe how many fireworks people up there light. We had ash hitting our car randomly while driving through the city. The whole town looked like a war zone! We spent the night at my parents' cabin.
Awesome story: When we were trying to get out of the parking lot, we saw a guy's car on fire. A firework had flown into his trunk and started a fire. He ran over to pull stuff out, and as he was pulling stuff out, his pants fell down. Coolest part was that apparently he didn't believe in underwear, and he apparently couldn't stop to pull up his pants. He showed the world his bum for quite a while. I'm just glad we weren't on the other side of him!

Here are the boys on the 3rd at Old Glory Days in Riverdale. These are all I took that day. I kept forgetting to bust out the camera!

Here was Krew at one month. It's been a while since I posted a pic of him, so here's one I missed:0).

We are finally breaking ground on our lot on Tuesday, hoping to be in by Christmas. Hooray!

I wrote this on facebook, but it's so cute I'll post it here too. Last night Jax's wish upon a star was this: "I wish that I could have lots of new toys every day, and I wish Mom could work at the dollar store." This wish better never come true! He used to tell me he wished we could live there!